Current Affairs Update - 13 Nov, 2014

• ·         The World Economic Forum (WEF) in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted the India Economic Summit in New Delhi from 4 November 2014 to 6 November 2014.
• ·         The summit was held under the theme, Redefining Public-Private Cooperation for a New Beginning. Union Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the events.
• ·         The Summit was built on three pillars: Boosting Global Competitiveness; Launching a Domestic Systems Reset; and Scaling Local and Social Innovation.
• ·         The summit convened against a backdrop of significant economic growth and progress in reducing poverty in most parts of India, but also persistent inequality.
• ·         Inclusive growth, competitiveness, health and infrastructure were the focus of the summit.
• ·         More than 700 leaders from business, government, civil society and academia from 45 countries participated in the summit.
• ·         During the summit, various issues regarding the Indian growth, employment, infrastructure, family planning have been discussed.

• ·         The taxi-hailing smartphone app Uber on 12 November 2014 announced to launch a mobile wallet in India.
• ·         The company is tying up with Paytm to offer the services of a semi-closed wallet to Indian consumers.
• ·         The semi-closed wallet option allowed customers to use the same wallet across the merchants supported by Paytm, without having to be restricted to Uber.
• ·         Until now, credit cards of Uber users were automatically charged at the end of the journey, a cashless payment method that had to be stopped after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) insisted on a two-step authentication process for all card transactions.
• ·         RBI had given all such businesses till 31 October 2014 to comply with the regulation. The central bank had later granted the San Francisco-based maker of the ride-hailing application until 30 November 2014 to move to a new payment mechanism.
• ·         Uber’s competitors in the Indian market largely work on a cash-based model.
• ·         RBI’s move has lessened Uber’s differentiation from its Indian rival companies such as TaxiForSure, Meru Cabs and Olacabs that have in recent months also introduced mobile wallets.

• •       The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday announced that the Global Investors' Meet (GIM) would be held during May 23-24 next year in Chennai to showcase the ample endowments and boundless potential of the State.
• •       Among the sectors that would be highlighted were electronics and electronics hardware, textiles, agro and food processing, IT/ITES, automobiles and auto components, chemicals and petrochemicals, engineering and heavy engineering, Infrastructure including roads and minor port development, industrial parks and SEZs, urban infrastructure and renewable energy.
• •       The government, in the budget for 2014-2015, set apart Rs. 100 crore for the proposed event.
• •       An exhibition which would display the State’s competitive strengths, investment opportunities, avenues of collaboration, investment facilitation mechanisms and financial support would be held during the event. Partner nations such as Japan, USA, France, Germany, UK and South Korea and other partner organisations would take part in the exhibition.
• •       The GIM would be preceded by focused discussions with potential investors from the shortlisted sectors so that a large number of MoUs could be signed during the Meet.
• •       PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) had been selected as a knowledge partner for the event and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance & Export Promotion Bureau (Guidance Bureau) will function as the Secretariat for conducting the event, according to the release

• ·         Ravi Chopra, director of famous television (TV) show Mahabharata, died in Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai on 12 November 2014. He was 68. He was suffering from lung cancer from last few years.
• ·         He was a producer and director of Indian movies. He started his career assisting his father B R Chopra in films like, Dastaan (1972) and Dhund (1973). He also assisted his uncle Yash Chopra in Ittefaq (1969).
• ·         He made his independent directorial debut with Zameer (1975), produced under the family banner, B.R. Films.
• ·         He was also the first Bollywood filmmaker who was taken to the court by a Hollywood company over the remaking of a film.
• ·         In 2009, 20th Century Fox had served a legal notice to Ravi Chopra and his production company B R Films over remaking of the 1992 Oscar Award winning comedy film My Cousin Vinny into Bollywood film Banda Ye Bindaas Hai. Fox sought 1.4 million US dollars in damages.
• ·         He was born on 27 September 1946 and was the son of legendary producer & director B R Chopra and nephew of producer & director late Yash Chopra. Aditya Chopra and Uday Chopra are his cousins.

• •       Zameer (1975)
• •       The Burning Train (1980)
• •       Aaj Ki Awaz (1984)
• •       Mazdoor (1983)
• •       Dahleez (1986)
• •       Baghban (2003)
• •       Bhoothnath
• •       Bhoothnath Returns(2014)

• •       Mahabharata (1988-1990)
• •       Mini-series Ramayana (2002)
• •       He was expected to come back to television with another mythological series, Vasudev Krishna in 2014-15

• •       President Pranab Mukherjee visited Bhutan on 7-8 November 2014 to strengthen ties between the two countries. This is the first bilateral visit by a President of India to Bhutan in 26 years.
• •       During his visit he had meeting with the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. He also discussed issues of mutual interest which includes bilateral and regional importance.
• •       He also addressed Bhutanese leaders, officials, professionals and intellectuals on the subject of India-Bhutan relations.
• •       During his visit, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Nalanda University. According to MoU, India will provide appropriate visa to students, faculty and staff for travelling to India to study or work in the University.

• •       The Royal University of Bhutan and English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
• •       The Royal University of Bhutan and National Innovation Foundation under the Department of Science &Technology
• •       The Royal Civil Services Commission and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
• •       He also announced the doubling of Ambassador's Scholarship to 2 crore rupees per annum for Bhutanese students to pursue their higher education in Indian Universities and institutes.
• •       Both the countries agreed to strengthen the training programmes in the areas of agriculture, food processing and post-harvest technologies to build extensive assistance.

• •       Union Government on 12 November 2014 constituted a high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to ensure smooth allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks. The committee will provide advise on policy issues and interact with the industry.

• •       Joint Secretary, M/O Coal
• •       Advisor (Projects), M/O Coal
• •       Representative of Ministry of power
• •       Representative of Ministry of steel
• •       Representative of Ministry of legal affairs (M/o Law and Justice)
• •       Representative of Ministry of Industrial Policy and Promotion (M/o Commerce and Industry)
• •       Representative of Ministry of Economic Affairs (M/o Finance)
• •       Director (CA-III), M/o Coal as Member Converner

• •       Union Coal Ministry in an official communication said that the nominated authority (under Vivek BHaradwaj) created under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014 is required to undertake management and reallocation of 204 coal blocks canceled by the Supreme Court. In discharge of duties, the Nominated Authority is required to consult Central Government on various policy matters.

• •       India and United Kingdom (UK) on 12 November 2014 announced Newton-Bhabha Fund to scale up their bilateral research & innovation relationship to a greater level. It was announced by Union Minister of Science & Technology, Harsh Vardhan and Minister for Universities, Science and Cities of UK, Rt Hon Greg Clark MP during fourth UK-India Science and Innovation Council (SIC).
• •       The Newton-Bhabha Fund is a programme with a strong interdisciplinary dimension that will further strategise the science, research and innovation cooperation between the UK and India. The fund contains 50 million pounds over 5 years from the UK and matched efforts from India.

• •       The aim of the programme is to pave the way for the next generation of researchers in the UK and India to interact with each other and build long-term R&D linkages and collaborations.
• •       It will sponsor UK and Indian PhD students to spend a period of their study (3 to 6 months) in premier Indian and UK higher education institutions starting from March 2015.

• •       This program is jointly funded by Medical Research Council (MRC), Department of International Development (DFID), UK and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of India. The fund is up to 10 million pounds.

• •       It is funded jointly up to 7 million pounds by Medical Research Council (MRC) of UK and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of India.

• •       The centres are jointly co-funded by RCUK Energy programme and Department of Science and Technology (DST) of India.
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• •       22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was held in Beijing, China on 9 November 2014- 11 November 2014.
• •       The summit was held under the theme of Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.
• •       The summit was concluded on 11 November 2014. The summit issued the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Declaration - Beijing Agenda for an Integrated, Innovative and Interconnected Asia-Pacific.
• •       Additional measures are described in Declaration for strengthening the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system as embodied in the World Trade Organization.
• •       Leaders also issued the Statement on the 25th Anniversary of APEC. The next APEC Summit will be held in Philippines in 2015.

• •       Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on 11 November 2014 gave nod to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stand for third term as President. The Court in its decision said that there is no legal barrier preventing the President to stand for a third six-year term.
• •       Further, SC noted that President can declare snap presidential election after he completes 4 years in office.
• •       Supreme Court’s response comes to a request made by President to clarify the legal position in the light of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
• •       President Rajapaksa’s decision to seek legal clarity from SC came after his decision to go for a third term was publicly questioned by former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Sarath Silva.

• •       China and the US on 12 November 2014 agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Both the countries have unveiled new pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.
• •       US President Barack Obama set a new goal of reducing US levels between 26%-28% by 2025, compared with 2005 levels.
• •       China did not set a specific target, but said emissions would peak by 2030. The two countries also agreed to reduce the possibility of military accidents in the air and sea.
• •       The news came during a state visit by Obama to Beijing on the sidelines of APEC summit.
• •       It is the first time China, the world's biggest polluter, has set an approximate date for emissions to peak.
• •       The two countries together produce about 45% of the world's carbon dioxide.
• •       The unexpected announcement is a bid to boost efforts to secure a global deal on reducing emissions after 2020, to be finalised next year in Paris.

• •       Russia and Iran on 11 November 2014 signed a contract to build two nuclear reactors in Iran, which will be followed with another six. Nuclear officials from the two countries signed the contract for building two reactors at Bushehr. Bushehr is the first nuclear plant built by Russia in Iran.
• •       The deal was signed in Moscow, Russia between subsidiaries of the two countries’ state atomic agencies Russia's Rosatom and Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.
• •       Head of Russia’s Rosatom state corporation - Sergei Kiriyenko
• •       Nuclear chief Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation - Ali Akbar Salehi

• •       According to the MoU inked between the two countries, the construction of the new reactors would be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as it was done in case of Busherhr’s first reactor, which became operational in 2013.
• •       Under the contract, Russia will supply uranium fuel and then take it back for reprocessing and this provision is intended to prevent any possibility of Iran using the spent fuel to build atomic weapons.

• •       The Seventh Summit on the Global Agenda was held in UAE from 9 November 2014 to 11 November 2014.
• •       The Summit on the Global Agenda for the year 2014 was organized by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Government of the United Arab Emirates and Government of Dubai.
• •       The Summit was held under the theme Shaping the Transformations of the World and in partnership with the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
• •       The co-chairs of the Summit were Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, and Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, Director-General, Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• •       The summit was attended by more than 1000 business, government and civil society leaders from 80 Global Agenda Councils.

• •       World Health Organisation (WHO) on 12 November 2014 released Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Household Fuel Combustion. These guidelines are the first-ever guidelines released by WHO highlighting the threat of burning fossil fuels in home.
• •       These guidelines stresses the need to improve access to cleaner home energy sources such as liquefied petroleum gas, biogas, natural gas and ethanol, or electricity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• •       The aim of these guidelines is to help countries introduce cleaner technologies, improve air quality in poor households, reduce pollution-related diseases and save lives.

• •       It sets new emissions targets for different kinds of domestic appliances, for both carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter.
• •       It recommends halting the use of unprocessed coal as a household fuel. Coal contains toxic elements such as arsenic, lead and mercury.
• •       The use of kerosene as a household fuel is also discouraged amid concerns around its adverse impact on air quality and safety. Kerosene is also associated with burns, fires and poisoning.
• •       People need to scale up the use of clean fuels such as biogas, ethanol, or natural or liquefied petroleum gas with appropriate venting, as well as solar electricity solutions for lighting.

• •       Kunal Shah, Indian-origin managing director at Goldman Sachs has been promoted to the position of Partner, becoming the youngest to be inducted into the global investment giant’s most coveted club.
• •       The 32-year-old is among the 78 individuals to be promoted to this position, and is one of the five persons of Indian-origin to have made the cut in Goldman Sachs in 2014 class of Partners.
• •       Shah was promoted to managing director at the investment banking giant at the age of 27. The Cambridge University math grad was also named in Forbes ‘30 under 30’ Finance list in 2011.
• •       He has been a rising star at Goldman since he joined the company in London in 2004, analysing interest rate products, before trading on the global macro desk, according to Forbes.
• •       The other persons of Indian-origin named to the firm’s elite group are Meena Lakdawala Flynn, Manikandan Natarajan, Umesh Subramanian and Rajesh Venkataramani.
• •       Goldman Sachs selects its partners every two years through an extremely secretive and rigorous month-long selection process.
• •       The record for becoming the youngest Goldman Sachs Partner is held by Eric Mindich who was promoted in 1994 at the age of 27.

• •       India and the United States issued statements on Thursday declaring that they had reached an agreement on outstanding issues with the aim of unlocking the impasse at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• •       India said that US has agreed that India’s right to protect its right to food security cannot be denied by the WTO as a result of which the imperfections of the Bali Ministerial package can now be removed. The US said that the agreement paves the way for full implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the first multilateral trade agreement to be concluded in the history of the WTO. The agreement also reflects shared understandings regarding the WTO’s work on food security, the US statement added.
• •       Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press briefing: “We are moving towards a satisfactory resolution of the impasse at WTO; all our concerns being addressed favourably by the US”.
• •       The WTO General Council will take up India’s proposal on food security around December 10 after which the impasse at Geneva could be resolved. “India had agreed to an imperfect Bali package in December; following the course correction it has been agreed to remove the imperfections,” the Minister said.
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• •       Sources on the India side indicated that the resolution could be achieved after the US agreed that India’s support prices to farmers are not trade-distorting and therefore an understanding could be reached that the protection of the peace clause provided by the Bali Deal against the WTO’s limits on agricultural subsidies should be available in perpetuity. The Bali Declaration was worded in such a way that it was open to interpretation on if the Peace Clause was available beyond 2017. The ambiguity is set to be removed now.
• •       India, on the other hand, was able to reassure the US that it is not opposed to Trade Facilitation and in fact is on course to implement it.

• •       Internet giant Google on Thursday celebrated the historic landing of European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with a doodle on its homepage.
• •       The landing on the speeding comet marks the highlight of the decade-long Rosetta spacecraft’s mission to study comets and learn more about the origins of these celestial bodies.
• •       Scientists hope that the data collected by the spacecraft and its probe will provide insights into the origins of comets and other objects in the universe.

• •       Pakistan on Thursday successfully test-fired a ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to targets as far as 1,500 kilometres, bringing many Indian cities under its range.
• •       The intermediate-range missile Shaheen—II, also called Hatf VI, was launched from an undisclosed location and its impact point was in the Arabian Sea, the military said.
• •       The successful launch was the culminating point of the Field Training Exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command.
• •       The purpose of the launch was to ensure operational readiness of a Strategic Missile Group besides re-validating different design and technical parameters of the weapon system, the military said in a statement.
• •       Director of General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, Lieutenant General Obaid Ullah Khan witnessed the launch.
• •       Gen. Hayat congratulated the scientists on the successful launch and said Pakistan is a peace-loving nation with no aggressive designs against any one.

• •       India’s - Virat Kohli
• •       Australia fast-bowler - Mitchell Johnson
• •       New Zealand captain - Brendon McCullum
• •       Sri Lanka’s former captain - Kumar Sangakkara
• •       Australia’s - Shane Watson

• •       The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will start on 14 February 2015 with New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka in a day match in Christchurch and co-host Australia will face England in a day/night match in Melbourne.
• •       Melbourne will also host the final on 29 March 2015. A total of 49 matches will be played across 14 venues, seven in Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney) and seven in New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington).Indian cricketer

• •       The Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma on 13 November 2014 scored the highest ODI score ever of 264 runs. The score of 264 runs is also the second-highest List A score.
• •       With this he became the only cricketer to score two Double ODI centuries and also broke the record of highest ODI score of 219 runs made by Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag.
• •       He achieved this distinction during the 4th ODI between India and Sri Lanka played at Kolkata.
• •       He took only 173 balls to score 264 runs that included 33 fours and 9 sixes.
• •       He was on 4 off 16 when he was dropped by Thisara Perera. He got to his 50 off 72, 100 off 100, 150 off 125, 200 off 151 and 250 off 166.
• •       His first double ODI century came against Australia in Bangalore on 3 November 2013 when he had scored 209 runs.
• •       He also broke the record of Most Fours in an ODI Innings.

• •       Russia and Qatar were cleared on Thursday by a FIFA judge of corruption in their winning bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
• •       FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert formally ended a probe into the bidding contests, almost four years after the vote by the governing body’s scandal-tainted executive committee. No proof was found of bribes or voting pacts.
• •       “The evaluation of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is closed for the FIFA Ethics Committee,” the German judge wrote in a statement released by FIFA.
• •       The 2022 World Cup will finally, it seems, be played in Qatar though exactly when is still unclear as FIFA seeks an alternative to the desert heat in June and July.
• •       “FIFA welcomes the fact that a degree of closure has been reached,” the governing body said Thursday in a statement. “As such, FIFA looks forward to continuing the preparations for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, which are already well underway.”
• •       The Qatari organizing committee said it would study the report before commenting.
• •       Despite finding wrongdoing among the 11 bidding nations, Eckert said the integrity of the December 2010 votes was not affected.